


always say yes

by livii



Category: Terminator Genisys (2015)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 11:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5415092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livii/pseuds/livii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Yes, I care for Sarah Connor," he says.  "Yes, I will always care for Sarah Connor."</p>
            </blockquote>





	always say yes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Kings_Scribe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Kings_Scribe/gifts).



> Thanks to my invaluable beta, nonelvis!

He has kept pictures of her, of her and him, of them. Kept the pictures where he could see them while he worked for their future.

Kyle is her destiny. But she knows something Kyle never can, and never will. Love will bloom everywhere, given half a chance. It's the way it always has been, and will be, and should be.

***

"Mr. Connor?"

"I am here," he replies. Nods his head politely.

_Don't smile, Sarah Connor had said. Don't scare her._

"Well, Mr. Connor," continues the teacher, frowning slightly as she shuffled some papers. "Sarah is a bright child, but rarely has her homework done on time, and doesn't socialize well with others. And frankly, she can be...unsettling." The teacher pulls out a drawing Sarah has done, of Sarah and himself, on the dock. They are holding hands. He believes this is a good thing, and looks up. The teacher is definitely frowning now.

_She frowns all the time, Sarah Connor had said. It's okay._

"It is a nice picture," he says. The teacher shakes her head. Wrong answer.

"You're holding a gun," she points out. "And in this picture, and this one too," she continues, pulling out more artwork.

 _People don't understand what we're doing, Pops, Sarah Connor had said._

He thinks for a moment. "It is my constitutional right to bear arms," he says. 

The teacher sighs and shakes her head. "Let's just keep them out of the classroom, okay? And the talk about killer robots and all that… Why don't you enroll her in ballet or piano? She's ten, she should have extracurriculars. Give her something else to focus on."

"I will consider that," he says.

_I've tried to tell them, Sarah Connor had said, but they don't get it. They never will, until it's too late._

"You must do your homework more often," he tells her when he returns home. 

"Oh, Pops," Sarah says, laughing. "Come on. Let's go shooting."

"Yes," he says. There is something Sarah Connor has not learned yet, he thinks, that nobody has learned except himself.

He will always say yes to Sarah Connor.

***

Sometimes at night, Sarah can't sleep. Sometimes is a lot of times, to be honest. When it's unbearable, she goes to find him in the living room. He spends the nights sitting passively on the couch. He doesn't sleep, but he tries to mimic her biorhythms.

Tries to make her comfortable. Tries to make their lives seem normal.

"Sometimes I wonder," she says, after she's leaned into him, and he is letting her hold him, snuggling into his side. She's had the dream again; the dream where it was Skynet who sent him back, and he will turn on her. Leave her. In the light of day, she knows it is untrue, but at night, dark things slip into her mind and take hold.

She is only eleven, after all.

"We're trusting whoever sent you," she continues. "You're an infiltration unit. You could any day, just…" She can't even finish the words. Pops is all she has. 

He puts a hand on her head and pats it; she smiles into his shirt, because it's the sort of pat you'd give a puppy, or an obedient small child. 

"My orders are clear," he says. "I will not harm Sarah Connor. Leaving would harm Sarah Connor. I will not leave."

She looks up, startled. 

"Is this not correct for comfort?" he says, and pauses his hand in the air, mid-pat.

"It's just fine, Pops," she says, and he resumes the motion, up-and-down, up-and-down, perfectly precise. 

***

When Sarah turns thirteen she just _can't_ , it's not _possible_ , what's happening with her body, it's just _too much_ and she's all alone.

She refuses to get out of bed for school. He leaves, then comes back with a paper bag.

"Sarah Connor," he says, "my programming includes information on the biological life cycles of human beings. I have purchased items you will need during this time of change."

"Are you telling me," she says, sitting up in bed and pointing at him, "are you telling me that you went out and bought _tampons_?"

"I am protecting Sarah Connor," he says, and then he does it - he smiles - and Sarah loses it, laughing so hard she cries, and he lets her hug him.

"Pops," she says, "don't ever change."

"I am a cybernetic organism," he says. "I am programmed to learn and adapt as best as possible. But I am an early model, and cannot do it as well as others. These are confusing orders, Sarah Connor."

She kisses his cheek and heads for the bathroom, and as she turns the corner she sees him watching her, and if she didn't know so very much better, she'd say he had a little smile on his face.

***

"Mr. Connor?" the officer asks.

"I am here," he replies, nods his head politely.

_You gotta be careful with cops, Sarah Connor had said. They don't like to be challenged._

"Mr. Connor," the officer continues, frowning, "Sarah was carrying an unlicensed firearm when we stopped her. This is a serious offense. I know she's a minor, but seventeen is awfully close to eighteen, if you know what I mean."

He thinks for a moment. "She is young. She has made a mistake. We must give her another chance."

The officer's face softens a little. "She looks even younger," he says. "Looks like my daughter."

"She is not my daughter," he says. "I am her guardian. Her parents were murdered. I protect Sarah Connor."

_It's easier if you just pretend to be my dad, Sarah Connor had said. But you can always play up the orphan sympathy card, if you need to._

The officer's face softens further. Changes. He has seen this many times. He has seen it in Sarah Connor. She calls it love. 

"She's lucky to have you," the officer says, "but a gun isn't going to protect her. At the very least, take her to train with it, get the license, okay? I'm going to let you guys go. I can tell you care for her very much, and I know you're going to help her, right?"

"Yes, I care for Sarah Connor," he says. "Yes, I will always care for Sarah Connor."

***

And then she has grown up.

2017\. He will not know if they arrived safely for many years.

He starts to prepare. He brings his possessions with him; he does not need much, and he does not eat, and he does not sleep. He is a machine.

At nights he sits quietly, and looks at the photographs of her. The drawing of them, on the dock. With the gun in his hand.

He has taught her to fight. He has taught her to survive. He has protected Sarah Connor. 

He still knows he needs to do more, more, more. He feels it. He is a machine. He cannot feel. But he feels it, and he says, yes, yes, yes.

***

They should have known about the cloud. He should have known about the cloud.

But, here they are again. 

_A merry band of warriors, Sarah Connor had said._

"I think you live to fight," Kyle Reese says, and from Sarah Connor's face, she has taken this as a compliment.

"I will follow you, Sarah Connor," he says. "Yes, Sarah." 

Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor turn to him. Kyle Reese is still not sure, not completely, but Sarah Connor smiles, wide and open.

"We are who we are," she says. "Come on."

"Yes," he says.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so I rewatched Genisys for this and fell completely in love with Sarah and Pops when watching with that in mind. It's so beautiful on so many levels. And I liked the movie even more than I liked it the first time, which was a lot. So, basically, thank you for the prompt!


End file.
